Ram Chrome Clad wheel cleaning

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Farmingdales Finest

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What would you suggest to clean the stock Chrome Clad wheels? I have been using both Meguiar's APC followed by either Uber or Meguiar's wash and wax and it's just not cutting it.


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Farmingdales Finest said:
What would you suggest to clean the stock Chrome Clad wheels? I have been using both Meguiar's APC followed by either Uber or Meguiar's wash and wax and it's just not cutting it.


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This is a good question. I'm not the 1 who's got the answer for you, but I'm interested in hearing the experts advice on which product is best.

Do you happen to have a picture of what the wheels look like now?


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I had. '10&'12 Ram along with a Charger R/T with the PVD wheels, I usually just used car shampoo but have used IronX,P21 s Wheel Cleaner and Griots. Granted I wash weekly and wheels never got totally trashed but have gone on long trips pulling my boat and the wheels got caked in brake dust also went thru long stretches of no wash in brutal winter conditions. Never seen any signs of damage from the chemicals but watch on the inside lip towards the barrel, it's easy to snag that edge while using a wheel brush.
 
Farmingdales Finest said:
What would you suggest to clean the stock Chrome Clad wheels? I have been using both Meguiar's APC followed by either Uber or Meguiar's wash and wax and it's just not cutting it.


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2012 Ram owner here.

20" chrome-clad wheels. I've always just pre-soaked mine with APC & let it work while washing the truck.
After that, I rinse, then hit them with my dedicated wheel mitt & wash solution. (usually Meg's UW&W with a capfull of ONR).

Dry with leaf blower, but there is always those streaks. What I do then is polish them with Plexus & a nice clean (cheapo) micro fiber.

Almost 5 years now, and my chrome-clads look great.
 
You might want to try one of the color changing wheel cleaner that have come out. Most, if not all, of them are pH neutral and work pretty well.

I save this type of cleaner for wheels that are in bad condition where my more cost effective APC won't cut it.

Yours might not take as much work, but for wheels that look like they've never been cleaned I use the below method.

I spray and let dwell, agitate a little, and respray, dwell and agitate some more, then rinse.

Most say not to let them dry on the wheel, but I have with several of them and have not seen any negative affects. I've left them sit for hours, left IronX Snow Soap sit for almost 24hrs. Do at your own risk of course.

If you want one that doesn't stink so bad, they all stink, try SONAX Wheel Cleaner Plus.

SONAX Wheel Cleaner PLUS

I actually think this one smells good and is not really offensive at all. It's not cheap though.

Meguiars makes two less expensive ones, Mirror Bright Wheel Cleaner and Dub Wheel Cleaner.

I haven't tried the Mirror Bright one yet, but I assume it's pretty similar to Dub which is good.

Meguiars Mirror Bright Wheel Cleaner

Klasse Act, if your reading this, how do the two compare?
 
Here's a pic from this morning. It's really not as bad as it looks I forgot to take a picture before I left for work and there is splatter from melting snow.

88d7c8f641493e155c245e8bb5690091.jpg



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You say that your current products are "just not cutting it". Can you explain what the means exactly?

Does it not remove all the dirt/grime fully?

Have the wheels been fully decontaminated ever (iron remover, clay)? And then protected with a wax/sealant/coating? I ask because I would think that a wheel that contains contaminants on the surface may make washing difficult to remove dirt/grime easily as the surface has an invisible rough texture for the dirt to grab onto.
 
evo77 said:
You say that your current products are "just not cutting it". Can you explain what the means exactly?

Does it not remove all the dirt/grime fully?
Click to expand...

I'm also having trouble understanding what the problem is. Are you doing just a spray and rinse and they aren't coming clean enough? Or are you agitating with brushes or something else?
 
Is that pitting on the chrome ? Looks like it on my phone


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evo77 said:
You say that your current products are "just not cutting it". Can you explain what the means exactly?

Does it not remove all the dirt/grime fully?

Have the wheels been fully decontaminated ever (iron remover, clay)? And then protected with a wax/sealant/coating? I ask because I would think that a wheel that contains contaminants on the surface may make washing difficult to remove dirt/grime easily as the surface has an invisible rough texture for the dirt to grab onto.
Click to expand...

I bought the truck used a year ago and did a full correction and it was washed at least every other week until winter when it's been washed 3x since November. I used the same process and it has been hard to get all of the grime and spots off the wheels. They look good until you look close. Most people's would notice unless they are looking for it.


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Setec Astronomy said:
I'm also having trouble understanding what the problem is. Are you doing just a spray and rinse and they aren't coming clean enough? Or are you agitating with brushes or something else?
Click to expand...

I spray with the APC. Let it dwell a bit and then scrub it with a brush. Then I follow it up with whatever I am using for the body. So essentially I am cleaning them twice and it's just not fully cleaning.


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MattPersman said:
Is that pitting on the chrome ? Looks like it on my phone


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No pitting. Just discolored spotting that I just can't get off. I would assume a wheel specific cleaner would be better I just don't know what would be best for these wheels. They are a chromed plastic cover.


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Clean off and scrub. Grab some HD AIO, green buff n shine pad on the pc an buff them up. Get the smaller tight spots by hand. Just did the same rims for my in laws Ram and they turned out great.The green pad was sacrificed at the end.

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Sounds like you just need some cleaner wax, or a fine polish. You could use something like Optimum Poli-Seal, Klasse AIO, or one of the Duragloss LSP's (or a hundred other suggestions that will follow).
 
What kind of brush are you using?


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Eldorado2k said:
Is it this kind?

d490d22605167fb6a5d2c4222aea2a5d.jpg



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Something similar. It was a three pack. One long handle soft bristles, a much stiffer scrub brush I have used for the tires and then a shorter one that looks like a shorter stiffer bottle brush that seems to be used for in between spokes.

I used the soft and the bottle brush one on the rims as well as a MF towel.


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Setec Astronomy said:
Sounds like you just need some cleaner wax, or a fine polish. You could use something like Optimum Poli-Seal, Klasse AIO, or one of the Duragloss LSP's (or a hundred other suggestions that will follow).
Click to expand...

Agree. My personal experience is that the discoloration and grime on chrome clad wheels does not come off when using wheel cleaners or apc. Polish them with a cleaner wax or aio and they will look like new again.
 
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